Ball bearing



Dec. 26, 1944. o. v. MANSFIELD BALL BEARING Filed March 30, 1945 IN V EN TOR. UwE/v M MHNS'F/ELD ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 26, 1944 V. .M:.-Products Corporation, .a" corporation-of Ne w/York i Application March 30, 1943; Serial No.- 481,074 1 ((31. 308-201) 6 Claims.

This invention relatesto improvements in ball bearings and is directed. more. particularly to cages or ball retainers andsimplifiedmethodsof making the same.

An. object of. the invention. i the provision of a cage formed of two annuluses substantially identical andiso formed that the ball or other y rolling element isirr contact with each annulus.

at; a maximum of 'two. points, thereby minimizing the. friction therebetweem, andgthet further provision. of a plurality of"? spacer. members; circumferentially disposed between. said arinuluses. and Welded or otherwise. secured to; the. latter to form a unitary structure; By this arrangement, each roundispacer members. q

In the operation of ball bearings, the balls are fiediform offmy implroved'cage employing round spacer members; and t Figure 601s a perspective View: of one of the supposed to rurrfreely in their raceway. There is a.tendency for'the balls to move at different speeds along the raceway; and further there is a.

tendency to relatively creep and make contact with each otherunl'ess prevented from doing so.

Objectionable friction is developed where adjacent. balls; crowd. together andqcontact. each other, duert'o the'.factthat the surfaces contact mg each other'are movingin opposite. directions.

spacer member makes a point contactwith one h s diffibultiesyl have in h Prior art been ball, further minimizin friction. overcome to. some extentbyuproviding the ball Another object of the invention is the provibearings Withcages or separators which sepa a e sion of an annulus so preformed thata crossthe ballspredetermined intervals apart, section of" the same is generally. in the form of The presentiinvention" is more particularly dia wide angled V;, so that the trough of the V 2 jrected'towardiniprovementsin the structures or: facilitates the location of the spacer members uch cages In e cages of the prior art there radially and the sideso f' the V near. the Open. s substantial friction between the balls-and the end thereof make: pointlcontacts with the balls. g i Ac rdin t e pr en nvention. A further object of the invention is the pro- Izreducethe friction between theball s and the. vision of spacer members. adapted'tohavetheir' ca e tov a minimu by providing substantially ends secured to' said annuluses. so as to ,form poi tcontactsbetween the balls and the cage therewith a unitarystructure. The. preferred perse'. H form of these spacer members, so far asI' now' in dt e w j a e on ists of" know," is rectangular and arcuate to conform to H ar r ngmembers' l0 and H'equa y D C i T the grooves in my end rings or'annulusesi I also art m" each means of a pl l ty 1 show a modificationwhich the spacers are Q sp c e 3 he ing'm m r co 1 round sections; Iialso contemplate and intend t deformed! annuluses Which make p t to' use spacers oftubular and othercross-seecontacts with' the balls 13 (Fi ure 2) at" two t y 1 spaced points l4"andrl5'.

The preferredmethodoi securing the rings and ho m er (ifT ffe e t de ormations spacers together'is to snotweldtheringsto the mayprcduce arrannulus' which willcontact the ends fsaid pacers f b z t a mid-point ballsat said two" points, I'prefer to deform the oftheend ofeach' spacer, where. the latter are annulus i the form of a e angled Vh vin ofa shcrt'arcuate lengthy and/or ate, plurality Substantially L i h a fiat offpoints, where thespacerszare oi'alonger arcun a P' fi the W o ate lngyth; l whichis'substantiallythethicknessoflthe spacer Riefrringgtdthedrawihg:. Q y members" a t k Figure 1 is'an end'view of 'one form;offmy iinh ;n m 5 3 of 36 m y a en ar pieces 0- maena 'arcua ey orme so: as" fel b cag/wlth 'f i 9 to be contacted by" the flat" annular'surface 3,; t Eigure ZL. is a sectional. View. taken along: th 1 m i u wm* the members: 1 a its: zimrzziartirt g "g f f g e f n 9 i In a'ssembling'the parts to form my new and g f an S owmgi fi 5U improvedca'ge, two"rin' s' lDand' I tare. turned 1812111011 of: thearingg members and onea Qfi the so-thatuthaopm a'th vimce each other: spate sil c arrd -a plurality ofspacermembers lz are'posie. Flgure 4 a slde elevatwn 0f the e shown tioned 'at the bottomsof"the vsi' The number; in Figure y y of spacer members depend uponthe spacing to" Figure 5 is a fragmentary end view of a modibe maintained between the balls. With the parts j in a suitable jig which holds said parts in the proper relation and which spaces the spacer members 12 apart, the diameter of the balls, plus the desired amount of clearance, the rings and the spacer members are spot-welded together to form a unitary structure.

The axial length of the spacer members 12 is such that when the members H), II, and spacers I2, have been spot-welded together to form the cage, the extremities l4, l4, of the opposed rings, or the extremities l5, [5, thereof, may be sprung apart by the ball itself a sufficient distance for the ball to enter the spacetherebetween, whenthe ball is pressed against either of said pairs of extremities to mount them-inthe cage.

The lengths of the spacer members l2 provid clearance between the ball and one of the rings while the ball is in contact with extremities of the other ring, for example, to provide a clearance between the extremities l4 and I5 of the ring (Figure 2) when the ball is in contact with the lower ring H at the points l4 and 15 thereof. This permits the cage to float slightly along the axial line of the ball hearing as the latter is operating, and thereby further reduces the friction between the balls and the cage by eliminating two more'points of contact. viously, with such spacing the points of contact between the ball and the rings of the cage must either be the points HI and 15 of the ring [0, or the points l4 and I5 of the ring H, or the points [4 and 14 of both rings, or the points I5 and I5 of both rings instead of all four points of contact. The points of contact between the spacer members l2 and the balls are,due to the clearance provided between the ball and the point I9 or between the ball and the point 20, but not both the points I9 and 20.

From the foregoing it will beseen that I not only reduce the contact between the balls and the cage to point contacts, but I also reduce the number of point contacts. 7

Figure 1 shows a complete cage with five balls in position therein and five spacer members [2 between the balls. Figure 4 shows the same cage with the balls in position therein in elevation.

A modification contemplates constructingthe spacer members of material of other shapes than curved rectangular members. One example of a spacer memberof another form is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, in which case the spacer members 2| are formed of rod material of a diameter smaller than the diameter of the balls l3. The extremities or ends of the spacer members. 2| are machined to form arcuate surfaces 16*, I! and I8, which member up respectively with the surfaces [6, I1 and I8, of the ring members I0 and I I.

In assembling this modified form of cage, the ring members I!) and II are positioned in a suitable jig which also properly spaces the spacer members 2!, following which the ring members and spacer members are spot-welded together to form a unitary structure.

Although I have herein shown and described a ball bearing cage having rectangular arcuate spacer members and a modification showing round spacer members, it must be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to these two specific forms of spacer members, because it is obvious that spacer members of other shapes and- What is claimed is:

1. In a cage for ball bearings, a pair of ball retaining rings, a plurality of spacer members circumferentially spaced between and defining the space-relation of said rings, and means for retaining rings each being preformed to have across-section in the shape of a wide angled V, the surface joining the legs of said V comprising a fiat annular surface lying in a plane cutting the axis of said cage at a right angle, said rings being spaced apart from and facing each other, anda plurality of spacer members contacting said annular surface and circumfere'ntially spaced apart from each other, said rings and said. spacer members being welded together to form a unitary structure.

3. In a cage for ball bearings, a pair of ball retaining rings each being preformed to have a cross-section in the shape of a wide angled V, the surface joining the legs of said V comprising a fiat annular surface lying in. a plane cutting the axis of said cage at a right angle, said rings being spaced apart from and facing each other, and a plurality of arcuate spacer members having their ends contacting said annular surface and located radially by said surface, said spacer members also being circumferentially spaced apart from each other, said rings and said spacer members being welded together to form a unitary structure.

4. In a cage for ball bearings, a pair of ball retaining rings, a plurality of spacer members circumferentially spaced between and defining the space-relation of said rings, and means for securing said rings-and said spacer members together to form a unitary structure, said rings being formed to include annular faces contacting said spacer members and angular sides contacting said balls adjacent to the extremities of the inner and outer edges of said rings.

5; In a cage for ball bearings, a pair of ball retaining rings, each being imperforate and preformed to have a cross section of the shape of a wide-angled V, the surface joining the legs of said V, comprising a flat annular surface lying in a plane cutting the axis of said cage at a right angle, said rings being spaced apart from and facing each other and adapted contact balls subsequently retained therein at point contacts, a plurality of spacer members contacting the annular surfaces of said rings, said spacer members being arcuate in form with their end faces circumferentially spaced at right angles to the planes of said rings, said rings and said spacer members being welded together to form a unitary structure wherein a maximum of six possible points of contact between said cage and each ball is possible.

6. A cage for ball bearings, 5, in which there are six possible points of contact but only three actual points of contact, said possible points of contact areeach leg of each V and the adjacent ends of neighboring spacing members, and the actual points of contact are one legof each V and one edge of a spacer member. OWEN V. MANSFIELD.

according to claim- 

